Blue Ghost – Can We Get In Here Now? : Touching down the Moon in Mare Crisium, the Time Is Texas

Blue Ghost touched down in the Mare Crisium region of the Moon at 2:34 a.m. The time is Texas. “We’re on the Moon again,” said Vanessa Wyche, the acting associate administrator of NASA in Washington, DC, at a jubilant post-landing press conference.

NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all, according to Janet Petro, acting NASA Administrator. “We have already learned many lessons – and the technological and science demonstrations onboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will improve our ability to not only discover more science, but to ensure the safety of our spacecraft instruments for future human exploration – both in the short term and long term.”

Other companies have tried to land on the Moon before, and have lost in space or crashed when attempting to touch down. Last year, the Houston-based company Intuitive Machines managed to land its Odysseus spacecraft, but it hit the ground so hard it broke a leg and tipped on its side.

The 2-metre-high Blue Ghost is now unfurling and commissioning its science payloads. There is also a drill and aplanetvac that can be used to get into and scoop the lunar dirt. Experiments will try to keep the Moon’s dust free of electric fields, as well as study the stickiness of the moon’s dust.